Olivia Rodrigo.Photo:Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
EvenOlivia Rodrigocan admit she’s had a couplebad ideas, right?
The pop star, 20, opened up in anew interview withThe New York Timesabout how her recent romantic relationships helped to inform herupcoming albumGUTS, due out Sept. 8 on Geffen.
The “drivers license” singer shared that the runaway success of her Grammy-winning 2021 debutSOURaffected her decision making, including how she felt the need to grow up quickly.
“I had such a desire to live and experience things and make mistakes and grow afterSOURcame out, I kind of felt this pressure to be this girl that I thought everyone expected me to be,” the pop-rock artist toldThe New York Times. “And I think because of that pressure, maybe I did things that maybe I shouldn’t have — dated people that I shouldn’t have.”
She noted, “I’m very tame,” but explained how those relationships were learning experiences that inspired songs and themes on her new record, which sees her reuniting with producer Dan Nigro.
Rodrigo dropped thelead single ofGUTS, “Vampire,” in June, which details how an ex took advantage of her and exploited her celebrity.
She explained toThe Timesthat she was uncertain if she should write the track about her fame at all, as she was worried it was “self-indulgent.”
“I’ve always tried to write about the emotions rather than this weird environment that I’m in,” the singer-songwriter said. Rodrigo eventually decided to write the vulnerable ballad, though, because she sees songwriting as a way “to distill all of your emotions into their simplest, purest, most effective form.”
Olivia Rodrigo in July 2023.Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
Rodrigo previously spoke about how there washesitancy surrounding writing “Vampire”in the way that she did, specifically in reference to the line that says “fame f—er.” In an interview withAudacy’sThe Julia Show, she said there was a “debate” about including the lyric.
“Some people said, ‘It kind of isolates you from people, you can’t really say stuff like that in songs if it’s not relatable,’ yada, yada, yada, which I totally get and I saw where they were coming from,” the singer shared.
“I think the song isn’t about fame f—ing or whatever, I think it’s more about someone being manipulative and sucking you dry, using you for all your worth,” she continued. “I think that that’s a universal theme, and I also think fame is more easily accessible now than it has ever been. It’s not just people in L.A. and Hollywood that have to deal with that.”
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The Grammy winner and Faze, 26, were first spotted together at theSpace Jam 2premierein summer 2021. In February 2022, a source told PEOPLE that the pair had “been over for a bit now.”
The “bad idea right” artist has also been linked toZack Bia.
source: people.com
